Jensen, Neal F.

Professor of Plant Breeding, plant breeder, and geneticist.

Neal F. Jensen was born in 1915 in Hazen, North Dakota. He received a B.S. in agronomy from North Dakota Agricultural College and a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding from Cornell University. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he returned to Cornell as Assistant Professor (1946-1949), Associate Professor (1949-1951), and the Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Plant Breeding (1951-1978). Jensen was in charge of cereal breeding programs in the Dept. of Plant Breeding and Biometry. A pioneer in breeding methodology, he introduced over twenty superior varieties of wheat, oats, and barley which became leading varieties in New York State and New England.